Guilt vs. Conviction

Back to posting daily...? Not sure. But last night, a discussion went down at bible study that can't go without being mentioned...or in this case, deciphered in depth. 

The question: "Are non-believers convicted? And if so, by who?"

Two sides were brought to attention, those of which are important, but for point's sake I'll just reveal what I found after looking further into it.

The Holy Spirit convicts both the non-Christian and the Christian. Let me talk about the non-Christian first.
I want to take you today to John 16 because in John 16, the Lord Jesus was about to be dragged from the garden. He was about to be taken to the Judgment Hall and sent to Calvary to die on the cross.
But just before this happened, He spoke to His disciples, and this is what he said—John 16:1, "These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.

"And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.

"And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?' But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart" (NKJV).

Now, listen to this. This is verse 7 [and 8]. "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (NKJV).

Well, now, there Jesus talks about the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, the Helper. The Spirit will come and he will reprove or convict the world. The word here in Greek is the word meaning "to expose," or "to bring to light" with the result of being shamed about one's wrongdoing.

And that's exactly what the Holy Spirit will do to every unbeliever. He's doing that in the world today.

While the world is not as bad as it could be, because of the restraining power of the Holy Spirit of God, some individuals within this evil world are still being convicted of their sin. And shame is the result. And this is the work of the Holy Spirit of God.

Now these verses that I just read, John 16:7‑8, they do not record all that the Lord Jesus had to say about the Holy Spirit when He comes and what He'll do. Listen to the next verses.

They give the details of the Spirit's convicting the world of sin and righteousness and judgment. In verses 9 through 11, Jesus says that the Spirit convicts "of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler [prince] of this world is judged" (NKJV).

Now, that's where we need to put our focus today. When the Spirit of God convicts the unsaved world, when the Spirit of God convicts those who have not yet trusted Jesus Christ as Savior—it's of sin and righteousness and judgment. But what does that mean?

Well, these three categories here, convicting of sin and righteousness and judgment--these are the three things that the Spirit of God is active today, doing in the hearts of people who do not know the Lord Jesus as Savior.

First of all, of sin.

See, it's not the task of the Holy Spirit to convict the world of murder, or of manslaughter, grand-theft auto, things like that—that's what the law does. The law of the land convicts a person of those kinds of offenses.

When the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, it's not of particular sins, plural, but of sin in general. And we're very, very wrong if we think the word "convict" simply means to make a person feel guilty. If that were the case, most people would never be convicted because it's evident that not many people feel guilty anymore about anything.

Now, when the Spirit convicts, it means that the unsaved person is found guilty as charged. Whether he or she feels guilty is not the issue. He or she is guilty, and the Spirit convicts that person of sin.

It's this knowledge that leads a person to acknowledge his or her need of the Savior. Before the Holy Spirit convicts someone, there's little sensitivity to God and the message of the Gospel.

That's why Paul says, "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to those who are lost, in whom the God of this world," that's Satan, "has blinded the minds of those which believe not" (2 Corinthians 4:3).

But, you see, that's what the Holy Spirit does. He reproves the unbeliever, He convicts him of his sin, and reveals the Gospel to him, showing him his need—a need which before he may never have perceived that he had. 

I think the biggest thing here that we have to realize is the difference of "feeling guilty" and conviction.

According to wikipedia:

Guilt is a cognitive or an emotional experience that occurs when a person realizes or believes—accurately or not—that he or she has violated a moral standard.

Conviction is to make aware of one's sinfulness.

Difference? Yes. Guilt is feeling bad for what one does according to moral standards. Conviction is becoming fully aware of your offense against the Lord.

So therein lies the determinant. Non-believers are guilty. Believers are convicted.

A Sinner's Prayer

        Psalm 51

Have mercy upon me, O God,
         According to Your lovingkindness;
         According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
         Blot out my transgressions.
  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
         And cleanse me from my sin.
  For I acknowledge my transgressions,
         And my sin is always before me.
  Against You, You only, have I sinned,
         And done this evil in Your sight—
         That You may be found just when You speak,
         And blameless when You judge.
 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
         And in sin my mother conceived me.
  Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
         And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
         Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
 Make me hear joy and gladness,
         That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
  Hide Your face from my sins,
         And blot out all my iniquities.
  Create in me a clean heart, O God,
         And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
  Do not cast me away from Your presence,
         And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
  Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
         And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
  Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
         And sinners shall be converted to You.
  Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
         The God of my salvation,
         And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
  O Lord, open my lips,
         And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
  For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
         You do not delight in burnt offering.
  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
         A broken and a contrite heart—
         These, O God, You will not despise.
  Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
         Build the walls of Jerusalem.
  Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
         With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
         Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

This is one of the most beautiful psalms I have ever read. I know that's hard to say since all of them are beautiful and have so much emotion behind each one. But for me, this one paints one of the most beautiful pictures of salvation. I encourage you to spend time meditating on this. And the coolest part about this particular psalm is the circumstance David is writing it from. Check it out, it's legit.

Patience Leads to Providence

God's Providence. 

Something I've been learning a lot about lately. Seeing results for what I do is something that I find my joy in. Finding myself dependent on those results is what I've been convicted of. That dependence quickly leads to not trusting God's plan and relying on your own to suffice. Well, saying and typing it I know that statement is false. But living it, that's the hard part. But through my weakness (which is obviously needing to be in control), He has shown me His perfect power. There have been so many situations in the last month that I've felt the need to control (and for some reason I thought I had that kind of power). I can only imagine has frustrated God is getting with me. That's why He's done what He has to teach me what His providence is all about. It's about being Abraham and leaving everything, knowing there's a journey ahead but not knowing the destination. It's about being Ruth, who left everything she knew to be with Naomi in a country she was a foreigner in. It's about being Paul, who dropped everything to spread the name of Jesus' not knowing he would write the majority of his letters to us sitting in a prison cell because of his love for God.

I love what He's showing me. I love what He's revealing about my heart. I can't wait to see His plan by using me to further glorify His name. In the end, that's ultimately our job...to glorify Him.

"Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness."  -Psalm 115:1

For All The Marbles

Am I willing to lose it all? Can I bet my entire life on a single hand? 

That's what God asks us to do for Him. Correction, it's what He expects us to do for Him. Being willing to give up everything is something I can say "yes" to, but it comes after a very very long and drawn out hesitation. Because God is a loving and gracious God, nine times out of ten, He probably wouldn't ask this of me. BUT, there is a possibly and if asked, a hesitation cannot be present. Reading through the call stories found in the gospels, I envy His disciples and their willingness.

"As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will make you fishers of men.' At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called to them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him."

                                                                                                   -Matthew 4:18-22

You catch the bold words? At once...immediately? Therein lies the difference between me and Christ's disciples. That hesitance that I mentioned...yeah, that doesn't fit into the definition for either of those words. In fact, it's the antonym. So what does that tell me about my heart? It needs to be re-evaluated. Why can't I just let go of these things? Without a doubt, without a pause. It's because I haven't come to grips with the fact that none of it's mine. All of it is a gift, a gift I don't deserve. But yet, because Satan is such an amazing liar, he puts the notion in my mind that I do own these things and I have a right to them. We have a right to absolutely nothing if we call ourselves Christians. 

"Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it." -Luke 17:33

We have to be willing to:

Get Up

Leave Everything

Follow Jesus

A Joyous Necessity

So I'm reading through a book for Leadership team with CRU called "Spiritual Leadership" by J. Oswald Sanders. Really great book, I highly recommend it. Last night I was doing some of the reading for this week and came across a chapter that really hit me. It may be because God has put the passion of prayer on my heart and every time I see something that is about or associated with prayer I get excited, but nevertheless, the chapter I read last night was Prayer and Leadership.

Because of the amazing wording of this book and the fact that I may not get the point across as strongly in my own words, I want to simply quote some statements that really stuck out to me while reading.

"Prayer is the most ancient, most universal, and most intensive expression of the religious instinct. It includes the simplest speech of infant lips, and the sublime entreaties of older age. All reach the Majesty on high. Prayer is indeed the Christian's vital breath and native air."

It then goes on to talk about how one can understand prayer and the power behind it. The simple fact is, we can only know from experience. "We cannot learn about prayer except by praying."

And then of course the importance of prayer..."If prayer is silly or unnecessary, Jesus would not have wasted His time at it. But wait! Prayer was the dominant feature of His life and a recurring part of His teaching. Prayer kept His moral vision sharp and clear. Prayer gave Him courage to endure the perfect but painful will of His Father. Prayer paved the way for transfiguration. To Jesus, prayer was not a hasty add-on, but a joyous necessity."

Then it talks about how it's not our power in prayer that does the work, but the influence our prayer has on God to do the work.

Prayer moves the arm

That moves the world

To bring deliverance down.

The final statement: "Great leaders of the Bible were great at prayer. They were not leaders because of brilliancy of thought, because they were exhaustless in resources, because of their magnificent culture or native endowment, but because, by the power of prayer, they could command the power of God."

His Righteous Right Hand

Welp. Spring break has indeed come and gone. So much for relaxing and getting caught up on school work. Neither of those two even showed up. Nevertheless, God did work in my heart over the last 9 days. Work that probably wouldn't have happened if I had stuck to my original "relax and study" plan.

What I've realized more than ever this week is how blessed I really am. My family is going through some serious stuff. Fortunately when I refer to family, I don't mean my immediate family, but I'm close enough to consider them that. Things are happening that I never imagined would ever be an issue in my family. Things that I read about or see on tv...are showing up through phone calls. It's scary. I'm scared. And the hardest part in all of this is that I can't be here. I go back to JMU tomorrow and I won't be home until the summer. That's two whole months. I think I'm in the "shock" stage of all of this. One thing happens, and then just when I think it's over or being fixed, another thing makes my phone ring. I don't know how to help. I don't know what to say. All I do is pray. Pray that God soon shows me the reason for all of this, that He will help me understand why it's happening, and to guide me through this in a way that best glorifies Him.

He's testing my faith, I know that much. Because in this situation, the family doesn't want this to be talked about (hence the really broad statements about the issues). I can't run and talk my feelings out to people and be comforted from their words. I don't have a way of physically helping the people who are hurting. He wants me to rely completely on Him for this. He doesn't want me finding contentment and encouragement from others (though that's not always bad), and He doesn't want me to use my ability to serve and do "good works" to make my pain go away. No, He wants me to come to Him, to let Him be all that I need. 

So how am I blessed from all of this? Because I look at my family members who are having to deal with this and how much it is impacting their lives, their faith, and their energy. I complain about little things, but they are the ones who have it hard. .

"'Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'" -Isaiah 41:10

Social Networks and Jiffy Extra Crunchy

So today is the beginning of Lent. I've been thinking about what I'm spending too much time doing that I could instead replace with spending some time with God or serving Him in some way. My verdict: Facebook and peanut butter. I've come to the conclusion that I check Facebook at least 8-10 times a day. A little excessive? I believe so. So, instead of entirely cutting it out of my life I'm going to limit myself to checking it once a day for a max of 30 minutes. 

So Facebook is my #1. My second is more to work on self-discipline rather than allowing more time for God. But I'm giving up peanut butter. BIG step for me. I love peanut butter and eating it on everything. Not having Jiffy extra-crunchy for 40 days is going to be a big test of discipline. Hah, that statement makes me sound so pitiful. But unfortunately, it's true.

So there you have it. My givings-up for Lent. Hold me accountable, please.

One more thing, I love the new Starbucks logo. Yes, I do notice things like that. I'm currently sitting in a Starbucks in Chesterfield, Va enjoying the environment of the coffee-filled aroma and smiles of all the cups and people in the room. It's one of my favorite places to sit, blog, and attempt to do some homework. 

Since this post isn't as "Jesus-centered" as my others, I'll add in a verse that I've been meditating on all week...and maybe you can slip on over to a Starbucks, check out the new logo on your cup and meditate on it as well :)

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." -2 Corinthians 12:9

On Repeat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSXpFsjSc-4

I know this isn't a new song, but it's been on repeat on my ipod/itunes the last 2 weeks. I can't seem to get enough :)

Finally Realizing.

There's a point in life where it's all out of our control. That point should be evident as soon as we ask Jesus to become our Lord. But unfortunately, this element of control never ceases to leave us, even as Christians. God has convicted me so much of this. But it's weird, because I give God more control of the things that I should take more control over and then I turn around and try to control the things I know I have no chance of being able to change.  This even confuses me and I have yet to understand why I decide to work this way. Nevertheless, I continue to learn how incapable I am to control most situations God puts in front of me. If you know me at all (or any women in my family), you know that we have a knack for liking to control just about every situation we are in or presented with. This is a great example of the role reversal that came with the Fall...women become overactive and lose their submissiveness. Guilty.

Looking at my past post, I'm always saying that "so-and-so" is currently going on in my life, or God is convicting me of "x". And I think, "goodness, God must see a lot that needs work in my life because each one of my posts is about something new." This topic I'm writing about today is intertwined with some past posts, so it's not a completely new situation...in fact, it has been a long and ongoing one. But regardless of the duration, God is constantly bringing new things to the surface for me to see. This situation has become completely clear to me this weekend. I have been trying/feeling obligated to fix this. Fixing it by showing God's love, by speaking the truth of His Word, by serving. By doing this, I'm showing my desire of control. I want to do it and I want results to show themselves.

So I took a little break writing this, and by break I mean church. I started this post at about 8am this morning and had to leave for church at 8:45...so now, here I am riding in the car heading home at 1pm finishing it. During this gap in time, God revealed even more to me about this control problem I seem to have. This morning I attended a small coffee house church and was able to hear the last of 4 sermons in a series they had been working through titled "Saturate." Today, the focus was centered around Joy. Something I feel that I've been missing lately. This morning's message not only answered my question as to where my joy is, but it also made it crystal clear as to how to obtain that joy that I have currently misplaced. There were 4 points in Philippians that show us where we find our joy.

1. Joy is found in unity (v.1-3)

2. Joy is found in God's peace (v.4-7)

3. Joy is found in contentment (v.10-12)

4. Joy is found in trusting God (v.14-23)

Two guesses as to which one answered my question? At the end of the message this morning, the pastor asked each question individually...Are you finding joy in unity? In God's peace? In contentment? In trusting Him? The first 3 I felt the Holy Spirit pretty confidently allowing me to nod my head. But I just couldn't do it to the 4th one. Why? Because I'm trying to control these situations in my life and I'm not allowing God to fulfill the promise that He made with me.

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." -Phil 4:19

The pastor this morning ended with a quote that was such a good reminder that even as Christians, we still struggle. In some cases, even more than we realize. I was challenged to completely trust God this morning. I've been challenged before and it's not the first time I've heard a message about trusting God completely. But this weekend, I not only heard it preached...I experienced it first hand. God, You've got my attention...now teach me to change.

"Most Christians are being crucified daily because of 2 things: either yesterday's regret or tomorrow's worry."

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." -Phil 4:6

Emma.

 

I love her. Every stinkin' part. She is my role model. My inspiration. My encouragment. My counselor. My affirmer. My twin. 

She understands me. She knows my heart. 

She's my best friend. And I get to have coffee with her this morning :)

The Strings of Life

God's plan surpasses all. I've been trying for so long (and I'm sure I probably will continue just because well, I'm full of gross stuff called sin) to solve problems my way. I've been trying to line God's plan with mine instead of aligning my plan with His. Big difference. A typed sentence doesn't do that statement justice. 

One particular circumstance in my life that has been going on for quite a while has caused me to undermine God and question His reasoning and the results that emerged. While I sit and read that His timing is perfect and all the truth found in Jeremiah 29:11, I tell myself, "okay God. You're right. You work Your magic and I'll just be the rabbit You pull out of the hat." That thought worked for a while. I did trust that His purpose would emerge in due time. So I waited...a week. a month. months. My hope began to slowly grow dim to this whole "trust in His plan". After months in this situation, things hadn't gotten worse, but they weren't were I wanted them to be. So that's when I started trying to pull the strings in this play we call life. I would tell myself, "If I just pull this string here, and just gently tug on that one there...things will start revealing themselves. The problem will be solved. I will have solved it."

False. The only thing string tugging lead to was me being frustrated and even more impatient. Recently (as in 2 months ago) I was at a loss. I had run out of plans, ideas, strategies, etc. I had nothing. It was then that I told God, "I get it. You've been right this whole time. You've sat back and let me play my little game. Can You take over now?"

While typing this, it makes me think of the handful of scenarios when this same thing happened so many times between me and my mom in high school (who am I kidding, it still happens). Just for reminiscing purposes:  This past summer I was determined to cut my hair. Not a trim...more like a "new do". My mom has always loved my long hair and she wasn't a fan of me cutting it. She said several times, "It's your choice, but I know you. You're going to regret doing it and then just complain about it." Of course, me being the the stubborn, know-it-all child that I am, got 8 inches cut off.

Before

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After

I got home. My mom looked at my face and knew. She knew the words before they even came out of my mouth. "You were right. I should have listened to you." The point to my random desire of chopping my hair off is this -- to show the relationship of my mom in this situation and God in all of our situations where we choose to do our own thing. Notice how my mom didn't forbid me to cut my hair. She didn't (forcefully) try to stop me. Just like God didn't stop me when I was pulling the strings in this drawn-out circumstance. He simply told me to trust Him at the beginning, watched when I failed, and then lovingly embraced me, forgave me of my stubbornness and took the strings from my hands.

That circumstance I keep referring to...He's working it out. And it's evident that His plan is providing so much more peace than anything I attempted. 

Let God pull the strings.